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It was why Jasper hadn’t fought harder to work things out with Kenzie. She had chosen her career over him. He hadn’t liked how she went about it, but he hadn’t blamed her for putting her ambitions first. She would’ve resented the hell out of him if he’d held her back in any way.
“Love is more important than any career goal,” Cal said after taking another swig of wine. “See. I know your type better than you think.”
Jasper’s teeth pressed together. “Look. You’re not her dad. I don’t have to declare my intentions to you. Like I said, this is new.”
“Right. Which means if you don’t have any thoughts of it turning into something lasting, then you should do her a favor and let her down now,” he said, a plea in his voice. “She’s already getting in too deep. I know her. I can tell. She’s let you in.”
Something twisted tight in Jasper’s chest at that.
“Don’t get her all knotted up with feelings for you and then dump her. Iwillfucking punch you if you do that, whether you want to fight or not,” he warned. “If you care about her at all, do the right thing.”
Jasper was so done with this conversation. He was arguing over a fake freaking relationship. Why was he letting Cal push his buttons? He got to his feet. “Right, let her go so that she can go running to you?”
He shrugged. “I love her. She loves me. I could make her happy.”
Jasper stared down at him, something new burning in his gut. “I know I haven’t known Hollyn for all the years you have. We don’t have that kind of history. But I know that she isn’t some shrinking violet who would appreciate her friend manhandling her love life and ‘protecting’ her from the big, bad world. If you haven’t noticed, Hollyn is a badass. Quiet and shy but strong as hell,” he said, thinking of the woman who boldly asked him for exactly what she wanted, the woman taking her fears head on to make her career happen.
“So maybe you’re not with her right now because she’s not looking for a shield from the world. She’s looking for someone to be on the front lines with her, someone who believes that she can handle herself just fine. Plus, she deserves someone who will fight to be with her, who will lay his ass on the line to get the privilege. Not someone who sits around for years in some passive self-righteous state waiting for her to come to her senses.”
Cal grabbed the wine bottle again, his knuckles white against it. “Fuck you. You have no clue what our relationship is like.”
“And you have no idea what ours is like,” Jasper said. “Maybe we’re goddamned soul mates and you’re trying to derail the start of our epic love story. Maybe she’ll be the love of my life.”
The words were out before he could evaluate them, but they reverberated in his brain like a thunderclap.Maybe, maybe, maybe…
They should’ve sent a panic through him.
Didn’t.
“Yeah right.” Cal snorted, his lip curling. “Go home, Jasper.”
Jasper had planned to leave after a quick check on Hollyn. But suddenly, he felt his heels digging in. He glanced down the hallway and then gave Cal a humorless smile. “I’ll see you in the morning. I’m gonna keep an eye on Hollyn tonight.”
Cal’s brows dipped, a line appearing in his forehead.
Jasper slipped off his shoes, gave Cal one last look, and then headed back down the hallway. If Hollyn didn’t want him there, fine. But no way was he letting Cal kick him out. He’d just told the guy that Hollyn deserved someone who would fight for her. Jasper didn’t know exactly what this thing he had with Hollyn was, but he knew she was having fun with him. He knew she’d been the one to ask him for this type of relationship. This was on her terms. And he wasn’t going to bail on their agreement just because her childhood best friend was pining for her and thought he knew what was best for her. If Cal wanted her, he was going to have to step up and prove he was worth her time. Until then, Jasper was going to show her why she hadn’t chosen wrong when she’d invited him into her life and into her bed.
He quietly made his way into Hollyn’s bedroom and shut the door behind him. The sheets rustled.
“Hello?” Hollyn’s sleep-soft voice crossed the space between them.
“It’s just me again,” he said in a low voice. He squinted in the darkness, trying to make out her form. “How ya feeling?”
“Room stopped spinning,” she said. “But I’m having a little trouble falling asleep. I thought you’d already left.”
His eyes started to adjust, and he could see she’d propped herself up on her elbow. “I planned to, but…”
“But?”
He shifted his weight from foot to foot. What the fuck had he been thinking coming back in here? His ego had gotten in the way of his good sense. He may as well have taken out a ruler and had a dick measuring contest will Cal.You may be her lifelong best friend, but I get to see her naked.God, he was ridiculous. “I, well, I will but I wanted to check on—”
“You can stay,” she said, her voice a night flower blooming in the darkness.
His bumbling explanations cut off. “What?”
The moonlight from the window gave her damp curls a silver glow as she reached out and patted the bed. “I’m not going to be much company, but it’s late and I know you’ve got to be tired, too. I’d rather you stay than drive off into a ditch somewhere, falling asleep at the wheel.”
He let out a breath. “I can take the floor.”
